The renewed excitement that EVs garnered among carmakers in the late 1990s gave way to … almost nothing. But in the past few years, EVs have suddenly been reborn, and they’re now becoming a central aspect of development strategy for major car manufacturers. (Just today, Tesla Motors said that cheaper batteries will mean its $57,000 Model S sedan, which uses cells like those in laptops, can turn a profit with fewer unit sales).

With 2010 coming to a close, we take a step back and look at how the EV industry has radically changed in just a few short years as technology and vision have caught up with each other. The result has been the epic rise of EVs in the last ten years:

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